Alive
by katiesparks
Summary: He was cold as ice and his eyes were wide and blue and looked at them like a frightened child might. "Please, I'll be good!" he told them. And later, after all was said and done, he asked her. "Please," he pleaded, "what does it mean, to be alive?" AU KA
1. Alive

They found him in the remnants of a lab.

That was what they told the people.

What they didn't tell them was what else occupied the lab. Human corpses, organs and dismembered limbs. And in the middle, one seemingly unharmed human, who appeared to be sleeping. They rushed to him and felt breath exit his nostrils, stirring the dust. Ecstatic, they reached out for him....

He was cold, cold as ice. Colder than any human cold be and be among the living. And his skin was baby smooth. Nevertheless, he jumped awake at their touch, blue eyes wide a frightened, like child.

"Please, I'll be good." He told them, tears gathering in the corners of those wide, blue eyes. "Please, I'll be good. Don't use me for parts, I'll be good!"

"Shh, shh." They said, because this boy was no teenager, he was a child, a frightened child, despite appearances.

"Who are they?" they couldn't help but ask, gesturing to the massacre. Because they needed to know, needed to record the names among those of the fallen. Needed to go to mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, lovers and children, and deliver the news. No one was coming home.

The boy's blue eyes widened against his pale, cold skin. "My brothers and sisters. But they weren't good. I'll be good, please, I'll be so very good. You won't even know I'm here. I've been here a long time, don't take me apart!"

He was no threat, they could tell that much. And true to his word, he was silent unless spoken to and walked with such grace that his footsteps couldn't be heard against tile floors. On their way out, the ones in front kept looking back, unable to hear him behind them. He was always there, his pale, bloodless skin standing out like a ghost in the dim of the corridors and his eyes frightened, blue spotlights that fixed themselves on his 'rescuers' unblinkingly.

Out in the van, they loaded him up, wrapped him in blankets, gave him hot coffee to drink, and raced to the hospital. It was there that things went from strange to shocking.

He was not alive; the hospital staff informed them shakily. He was very close, he had flesh and organs. But they functioned only superficially and his bones were made of metal. His eyes could see far better than an average human, indeed, all his senses were highly advanced. And his skin was freshly grown, a newborn babe's skin stretched across a teenaged body.

One nurse, at least, was able to keep her cool. It was only later revealed she was no nurse, merely a volunteer from the local college.

"Here, I got you some clothes. Do you have a name or should I just call you 'kid'?" she said, handing him a pair of boxers, a fleecy pair of pajama pants and a dark blue sweatshirt.

He looked at her with those eyes. "What's a name?"

She sighed. "What do people call you, when they want your attention?"

He looked at her blankly for a moment. "Patient 1412. Sometimes they just called me 1412."

"That won't do, you need an identity and a number isn't an identity. You need a name. You want me to pick it or do you?" she shook her head and stood beside him after he pulled on the boxers and the pants. He struggled with the shirt for a moment and she sighed and took it from him, moving slowly as if he were a frightened animal. He tracked her every move. She pulled the sweatshirt over his head and guided his arms through. He was limp, like a doll or a puppet, non-resisting. It unnerved her a bit.

"I don't know what a name is." He said to her.

"I'll pick then." She paused and regarded him carefully. "They said you're quiet, didn't they? And have senses above the normal....How about Kaito?"

"Okay." He said.

"Nice to meet you then, Kaito. My name's Aoko and if you need anything, you can ask me, okay? I don't want you to fell like you're alone so you just call me, I don't care what for, understand?"

"Yes." He said, remaining perfectly still. She frowned at him.

"Do you know what body language is, Kaito?" she asked, purposely using his new name.

"No." he said, looking at her with a quick, fleeting glance.

"Here, I'll teach you....."

Weeks passed and Aoko was a regular visitor to the strange, lifeless boy. And while all others were repeatedly denied entrance to him, she was always let in, where she greeted him cheerfully. After the first week, his eyes ceased to widen in fear at the site of her. All of the others were potential enemies, but this girl, it seemed, could be trusted.

"Kaito?" she said one day and he looked up, just like she had told him he should, in acknowledgment. "Kaito, do you want to leave the hospital with me? I've got an extra room in my apartment. You could come stay there and they wouldn't bother you as much. It's up to you. But I'll let you choose. You need to make choices on your own, okay?"

A few days later, he informed her he had chosen to go with her. And so he left the hospital and the little room with the white sheets.

The streets were busy and crowded, but Aoko pulled a hood over her companion's head to hide his pale face and took his cold hand in hers and led him on. Slowly, his fingers warmed in the steady grip.

From then on, he lived in the room in Aoko's apartment. The room that was always warm and had blue sheets that smelled of lavender. Across the ceiling, Aoko stuck glow-in the-dark stars and when sleep alluded him (it often did, the doctors had told him it was because he didn't need to sleep, he slept by choice) he stared at them for hours on end. Aoko had them arranged as close as she could manage to the constellations in the night sky, worried her companion would become disoriented if they were dissimilar. She was right.

And finally, the media calmed down and the two of them lived their lives in a moderate amount of peace. Aoko went to school during the day and at night, she taught Kaito how to be human, one baby step at a time. Eventually, she sent him out by himself to get groceries while she was at school, giving him precise directions and informing him which people he should speak to if he needed help. The kindly shopkeepers who had long befriended Aoko took to the strange boy as well. And as Kaito completed the shopping each week without incident, Aoko felt a strange amount of pride swell up in her.

"Aoko?" he said quietly one night, sipping the hot chocolate Aoko had made for him. She said it warmed him up a little bit, made him less cool to the touch, so he drank it, because he knew his skin made her uncomfortable.

"Yes, Kaito?" she said from her position against his side. They were watching TV, a chick-flick that Aoko enjoyed.

"Why is her bring him lunch such an important thing?" he asked quietly.

"She prepared his lunch for him, it's a way for her to show that she cares for him enough to worry about what he's eating. Here, its being used to symbolize her feelings for him in a way that the viewers of the show can understand without it being stated outright." She explained patiently.

Kaito scrutinized the TV silently but did not say anything else, so Aoko dropped the subject. Kaito would talk when he was ready, when he chose to. She had always emphasized the need for him to make all his choices, from the words he used to the actions he performed, very carefully.

"Could I bring you lunch one day, at your college?" he asked a few minutes later.

Aoko frowned worriedly but hid the expression against his side. It would be okay, she reasoned. And he obviously wanted to, otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken. "Of course you can, Kaito. Do you want me to give you some directions later? I'll send you straight to the cafeteria and you can meet me there."

He nodded, a gesture he had learned to emanate well, and Aoko smiled at him. Then she settled back down to finish watching the movie and Kaito remained silent beside her.

The next day, he dedicatedly prepared some of the dishes Aoko had taught him how to make during his time with her. Then he packed them into a bento and set off, locking the door carefully behind him and putting the key in his right pocket. From the left pocket, he pulled out the painfully detailed, but still easily understood directions to Aoko's college cafeteria. He followed them to the letter, even the notes beside them, making suggestions like 'if anyone you know waves at you, wave back' and 'call out a greeting to the shopkeeper on the corner or she'll assume you don't like her anymore' and 'if anyone says they have a good deal for you, tell them you'll come by and take a look later, don't be rude and tell them what you're doing'.

Finally, he reached what he assumed to be the college campus. It was there that the trouble started.

"Hey! Hey, there's that guy, the one who is like a robot or something! Hey! Hey, um, Kaito, yeah, Kaito! Slow down!" yelled out a voice and he turned, because someone calling your name meant they wished to be acknowledged. A group of people who looked about the age Aoko did approached him.

Their fingers reached out and touched him and they shivered and laughed. Kaito looked on, confused. Aoko said you didn't touch people that you didn't know and they didn't know him, did they? And they had used his name so informally, Aoko said that that was rude. Hadn't Aoko told them that?

"So, what's its like, not being alive? You can't feel anything right?" they questions came and he still looked at them in confusion. Aoko said that you didn't ask people questions about themselves unless you knew them. She said not to. Didn't they listen when Aoko talked to them? "You can't feel this, right, because you're not alive? Are you a zombie? Or a vampire?" They pinched him and touched him and he winced away. Didn't they know not to pinch people? Didn't Aoko tell them that it wasn't good to touch people?

Why hadn't they listened to Aoko?

"Hey! Hey, leave the poor guy alone!" came a voice and they students faces turned slightly fearful. Kaito didn't know why, the voice sounded nice. Almost sounded like....like Aoko.

"Crap! It's Mouri! Run!" one of them said and they scattered.

A girl who looked like Aoko, but tamer, somehow, walked up to him, glaring furiously at the retreating backs of the group. Then she turned to him with a smile. "Kaito-kun, right? Did you need some help?"

Kaito looked at her, but she seemed nice. And she wasn't touching him and she used –kun on the end of his name and Aoko said that's what you were supposed to use if you met someone who was younger than you. And he was technically younger than nearly everyone. "Yes. Aoko, I was bringing her lunch, like the girl from the movie. Aoko said it was okay. But they were touching me. Didn't Aoko tell them that touching people was rude?"

Ran smiled at him sympathetically. "That's very sweet of you, Kaito-kun. My name's Ran. You're friend, Aoko-san, is probably waiting for you in the cafeteria, isn't she? Do you want me to take you so no one else will come by and start touching you again? You look like a friend of mine, if you were with me, they'd probably think you were him and wouldn't bother us."

Kaito nodded at her and she smiled. "I'm going to hold your hand, okay?"

"Okay."

Ran escorted him to the cafeteria. "Can you find your friend from here?"

Kaito looked across the cafeteria and saw Aoko, who saw him. She gave the girl with him a suspicious look and stood up, beginning to make her way over to them.

"Yes, that's her right there." He said and Ran smiled again.

"That's good. You take care, Kaito-kun." She said and gave his hand a final maternal pat. Then she turned and walked away.

"Kaito? Who was that?" Aoko said and Kaito looked at her, offering her the bento.

"Her name was Ran, she made the people who were touching me go away. Didn't you tell them that touching people was rude?" Kaito asked as Aoko took his hand and led him to a empty table.

"What?" she said and Kaito rehashed the story for her. "Oh, Kaito, I don't tell everyone in the world how to act. I tell you, because you need someone to tell you, but I can't tell everyone. They have to learn on their own. I'm sorry that those people made you uncomfortable."

"Why are you sorry? It wasn't your fault." Kaito asked and she sighed.

"It's an expression. Don't worry about it." She said and took a bite of the food he'd prepared for her. "This good, Kaito, you did a very good job. Thank you."

Kaito lit up under the praise. "I'm glad."

Later that night, after another movie, he replayed the events from that afternoon over in his head as he memorized the constellations on his ceiling for the thousandth time. Finally, he got up and crept to Aoko's room, silent as his namesake.

"Aoko?" he said, placing a cool hand against her cheek. She roused and looked at him blearily.

"Kaito? Did you need something?"

He looked at her, something fearful having returned to his blue gaze. "Please," he pleaded, "what does it mean, to be alive?"

* * *

**So, yeah. I kind of was looking through these old documents on my computer and found this one named Bunnies. So I opened it and it was this list on one-lined prompts. Kaito's last sentence was one of them and I couldn't resist. Tell me what you think, all! (and this one is not being continue, darn it! I'm serious!)**


	2. Carefully

"Careful, Kaito." Aoko cautioned him as he picked up the tiny kitten. "Don't hurt it. You've got to hold it carefully, but firmly. Don't let it wiggle away but don't squish it."

"Why is it so little, Aoko?" he asked, moving his hands to do as she'd told him.

"Because it's a kitten, a baby cat. Babies start out little and grow bigger over time." Aoko said and Kaito regarded the orange colored kitten curiously.

Kaito didn't say anything else and Aoko resumed padding the box with towels. The other abandoned kittens cried pitifully from their place on the sofa. The poor animals' eyes weren't even open yet.

"I've always been this big." Kaito said a few minutes later, the orange kitten still in his grip. It cried just as its siblings did and Aoko sighed, moving in behind him. She reached her arms around him, placing her hands over his and pulled the kitten against his chest. Kaito let her maneuver his limbs without a fuss.

"If you hold it like this, it might stop crying. Poor thing's cold, way out there in your hands." Aoko told him to explain her actions and Kaito cradled the tiny mammal against his chest carefully. "You've always been the same size because some people were trying to play at being God. That's not something that they should've done, but I'm glad to have you around for company, so I won't complain for now. Just know that you're the exception, okay?"

Kaito nodded. "What do you do with cat babies? Kittens?"

Aoko smiled sadly. "I'd love to tell you that we keep them and take care of them, but I can't afford that, even with the upkeep checks the government keeps sending us since you stay with me now. If I had a job..." Aoko trailed off. "But I wouldn't get to spend any time with you, I'm already gone most of the day. We can't keep them, so we're going to let them stay here for th night and then we've got to call animal services to pick them up. But this is a good lesson for you, Kaito."

"A good lesson?" Kaito asked. "How is kittens a good lesson?"

"How _are _kittens, Kaito, not _is_." Aoko corrected with a smile and he nodded. "You're a lot stronger than normal humans, Kaito. Your bones are heavy and harder, which makes you stronger in a structural sense and because you move such heavy bones with the same ease as we move lighter ones, that makes you stronger too. Just like you have to be careful not to hurt the kitten, you have to be careful not hurt other people."

"Why would I hurt other people?" Kaito asked and handed off the kitten to Aoko. She stroked its head as it cried out at the change before replacing it on the couch with the others. She turned and began routing through drawers, searching for a clock.

"Hurting other people is a choice. Bad people hurt other people, Kaito. That's why you have to be careful. But, if someone hurts you first, you hurt them back, okay? But not more than they hurt you. Unless, well, it's like this. If someone punches you, you can punch them back, just a little bit harder, so that they won't do it again. But if someone has a knife or something, or is trying to kill you-you remember what I told you about death and killing, don't you?- then, you can hurt them as much as you want until they stop trying to hurt you. If they try to hurt you first, then its called self defense, okay? But promise me you won't ever try to hurt anyone without a good reason, Kaito. Promise me you'll be careful."

Kaito nodded, if Aoko wanted him to do something , _of course _he would. Aoko only wanted what was best for him. "Okay, Aoko, I promise."

The brunette sighed and smiled. "Good, thank you, Kaito." She finally found the clock she was looking for and placed it under the many layers of towels she'd placed in the box. "Now, help me put all the kittens in this box."

"Okay." Kaito said, picking up the orange kitten first. It cried. "Why did you put a clock in there?"

"It sort of sounds like a heartbeat. Kittens want to hear their mother's heartbeat, so if the clock sounds like that, they won't cry as much and will be happy."

"Being happy is important." Kaito told her as he moved another kitten into the box. The three that were in the crawled all over one another, as if they couldn't be close enough. Kaito put the next kitten practically on top of the others. It seemed happier like that.

"Yes, Kaito, being happy is very important." Aoko confirmed and smiled at him and he wondered what that fluttery feeling could possibly mean.

* * *

***glares at reviewers* So maybe I wrote another piece of it. It doesn't mean anything!Also, it occurs to me to give credit where credit is due. So, the intial idea for this that the bunny ignited came from a fic called Puppet by Oni-Gil in the Transformers fandom. Very good story, but it was posted for Halloween and really creeps me out. Its very AU, no understanding of Transformers is required to read it. puppet!Nova inspired me, so now we have puppet!Kaito And when I figure out how to do it, I will post it on lj. But I'm not looking at it right now, I'm busy, can't you tell?**

**KIRBY: She's lying is what she's doing!**

**Go away!!!!!  
**


	3. Building

**It has come to my attention by one helpful reviewer, an anonymous one, otherwise I would be thanking her personally, that I had categorized this as 'Romance'. As they pointed out, Kaito's far too young mentally for that sort of relationship, so that has been changed.  
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Kaito 's hand curled around the block and positioned in on top of the other one as precisely as he could manage. This tower was large enough now, time to make another one, even bigger. His city of blocks spanned the living room by now but he wasn't done yet. He was going to make the biggest city ever to show Aoko when she got back from school.

Aoko liked it when he played with blocks. Se said it was good for his motor skills. He knew what motor skills were now, he'd looked them up. 'The ability to manipulate objects in one's surroundings' it had said. So Aoko wanted him to be able to do things. Kaito could do lots of things. He liked doing things. So that meant everyone was happy, right?

His new tower was more than three blocks taller than the last one but it was the same height as the one across the room. He didn't like that, he wanted this one to be the tallest. Outside he heard the sounds of footsteps on the stairs and keys in jangling in the lock. Hurriedly, he put the last block on top of the tower.

It crashed.

Aoko walked in then, to the scene of Kaito looking at the pile of blocks with hurt expression. Around the room were little cities of towers, but here there was only ruin.

Kaito looked up, acknowledging her because that's what he should do. "I was almost finished."

Aoko sighed, setting down her books a giving him an amused look. "You still have time to finish. I'm not inside yet." She told him. He looked down at her feet and noticed they hadn't crossed the threshold yet. He grinned at her and began reassembling the two towers that had fallen.

"If you rush, they'll just fall again. Take your time. Good things come to those who wait." She told him and he obligingly slowed down. He finally finished and looked up at her smiling.

"You said playing with blocks was good. Did I do good?" he inquired, motioning around him. She laughed.

"Yes, it's very nice. But putting them up is an important part too. All good things come to an end." Aoko said, kneeling down to begin to gather the blocks.

Kaito frowned at her. "I those good things come to those who wait? Not come to an end."

"They do both. If you wait for something to happen, take your time and do it right, then you will get what you want. But once you have what you want, you only get to have it for a little while. Because if you had it all the time, it wouldn't be special. Its only special if you only have it sometimes." Aoko said.

Kaito nodded his understanding. "All I have to do to clean is put them back in the box, right? I can do it by myself, you don't have to help."

Aoko smiled and handed the box to him. "Okay. I'll get something for us to eat then. Does fish sound good?"

Kaito shuddered. "No, I hate fish."

"Hate fish? Since when, you just ate it last night!" Aoko exclaimed, looking at him strangely.

"A lady hit me with a fish while I was shopping today. It hurt my hand. I hate it." He told her and held up his hand. It was wrapped in white bandages.

"Who wrapped that, Kaito?" she asked. The job couldn't have been his; he wasn't that good with his hands just yet. But he was getting better at a remarkably fast pace, all things considered. Last week, he hadn't been able to stack even one tower out of the blocks. This week he'd made an entire city.

"A person who was walking by. I told him I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. He said if he told me his name he wouldn't be a stranger anymore and then he could help me out. His name was Agasa....Agasa....Hiroshi?" Kaito said, looking to her for confirmation. She nodded as if she knew the man and Kaito continued. "I told him he did a really good job and told him thank you. He laughed for some reason and said he was always having to fix himself and his neighbor and that's why he was so good. Hey, Aoko, what's a neighbor?"

"A neighbor is someone who lives near where you live. Some neighbors get really close to each other and others never some much as say hello." Aoko told him and stood up. "Since you've decided you don't want fish, how about chicken?"

"I like chicken. You aren't mad that I don't like fish?" Kaito asked. Aoko shook her head. "Hey, Aoko, are we neighbors then?"

Aoko thought about her answer for a moment. "No, we're more like roommates. People you live with who aren't related to you by blood. If they are related by blood or marriage, you call them family."

"Can't we be family?" Kaito asked, remembering TV shows they'd watched and liking the idea of family and relations.

Aoko didn't answer for a good while. But Kaito was patient. She was just making choices, just like he did. Just because she was normally faster didn't mean much. Time itself didn't mean much to him yet either.

"Yeah, we can be family, Kaito. But, if you're going to be my family I'm going to have to take you to meet my dad eventually. That good with you?" Aoko said, grinning at him.

"Sure, okay!" Kaito said, happy she'd agreed. As she turned to start going to the kitchen for the third time, Kaito made a noise behind her. She turned back to him.

"Hey, Aoko?" he said and waited until she was looking at him to continue. "What's a dad?"

* * *

**I'm not sure if I'll write anymore of this until closer to Christmas. I have an idea for a Christmas plot, but I don't want to go at it too soon, you know? But, if anyone offers any bunnies that are just irresistible, I might make an exception.**

**Also, I have a lj now. Anyone want to friend me? I put it as my homepage on my profile. So, yeah. I still don't get it. *shrugs*  
**


	4. Years

"Say, Kaito? May I ask you a question?" Aoko said one day, while they waited for one of Kaito's shows to come on. He was fascinated with Karmen Yaiba, just like any other child would be and they had come to an agreement. If Kaito watched Aoko's girly soap operas with her, she would watch children's cartoons and such with him.

Kaito tilted his head to the side questioningly. "Yes."

"How old are you?" she said and he looked at her for a couple more moments, confusion etched into his smooth skin.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, age? How many years have you been a part of the world?" Aoko pressed and he frowned and scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Age? Aoko, I don't understand." He told her, waiting for her to provide an explanation.

She sighed. "You know about days and weeks, right?" He nodded. "Well, there's 4 weeks in a month and twelve months in a year. You age is how many years have gone by since you were created. So, if you were guessing, how many years has it been since you were made?"

Kaito puzzled over this for a long time. Aoko waited and the recap of the last episode of Yaiba started in the meantime. As it ended, Kaito spoke.

"50. I think it's been 50 'years'. But I might be a little wrong; math is still kind of hard." Kaito said and Aoko gaped at him.

"50, Kaito? But....Kaito, you don't look a day over 20, and that's stretching it!" she said and he looked worried, not so much from what she was saying, but because of the upset way that she managed to say it.

"I'm, sorry, Aoko. Did I say something bad? I won't say it again, I promise." He told her and she shook herself and smiled reassuringly at him.

"No, no, it's not your fault, I overreacted. You said exactly the right thing. We're missing your show, though, want me to rewind? I did get DVR for a reason, you know."

Kaito smiled at her, glad to know he hadn't done anything wrong. "Yes, please."

* * *

**I could've sworn I'd already loaded this one. Sorry!**


	5. Christmas

"Kaito?" Aoko said, walking into his room early one morning to find him awake, sitting up in the dark and starring out the window.

"Kaito? Kaito, honey, why are you up so early? We have a big day today." Aoko said, going to sit beside him on the bed. He looked at her after several moments and shuddered slightly, curling into himself.

"I don't want to go. I don't understand." He choked out and Aoko patted his back.

"You said you wanted to be part of my family right? That means you have to come the Christmas party with me. It's important. And Tousan said I have to come, so if I go and you don't you'll be here all by yourself." Aoko said and he looked up at her with wide blue eyes.

"But I don't like people anymore. People try to hurt me. I don't understand. And what is Christmas?" Kaito reiterated.

Aoko sighed. "Christmas is a holiday that Christians celebrate on December 25 every year. It's the birthday of their god's son, Jesus. Some of my cousins are Americans and Americans are almost always Christians, or at least I think so. Either way, they like to have a party and everyone else agrees with them so we go swap presents and have a good time. I hate to do this, Kaito, but you're going. End of discussion."

"That's not fair." Kaito informed her and for a second, he looked every bit a defiant teenager. But just as quickly, the image faded and he moaned. "I don't want to go. Will it be fun?"

Aoko smiled and ruffled his hair. "Well, we can only hope."

* * *

"Aoko, you've gotten so big! Just look at you, shaping up to be a fine young woman! And who is this? Your boyfriend? Oh, isn't he cute!" Aunty gushed, hugging on her niece and trying to get a good look at Kaito, who hid behind Aoko with frightened eyes.

"Thank you, Aunty." Aoko smiled. "And no, this is Kaito. He, well....Let's just say he's my roommate and we have no sort of relationship, at least not like that. Kaito, come say hello, this is Aunty."

Kaito edged out from behind his shield and looked at this Aunty figure. "Hello." He said and, at Aoko's look, he offered his hand to be shook.

The large woman bypassed the hand and pulled him into a big hug. He squawked and tried to get away. "Aoko!"

"Aunty, please stop, you're scaring him!" Aoko cried out and the woman released him. He went flying behind Aoko again.

"Aoko!" a voice bellowed and she saw her dad heading towards them, a gleam in his eye that she recognized.

"Crap, it's the 'Destroy all boyfriends' look. Kaito, let's go get something to eat..."

"Aoko! Why haven't you come and viited me? And who is this boy?" Ginzo thundered and Aoko blushed.

"We're so busted, Kaito." She whispered. "He's not my boyfriend, before you even assume it." She said loudly to her father.

"Then what is he? Friends don't hug all over you in the middle of a family reunion, Aoko! Just let me take a look at him."

"No, you'll scare him! I knew this was a bad idea but you just had to make me come, didn't you?" Aoko glared and the old police officer glared right back.

"What, so you wanted to stay at home with this boy? He's a sniveling coward, won't even face me like a man!" he claimed.

"He's not a man! He's hardly even a kid! Just leave him alone and let me explain!" Aoko exploded and her father wisely backed off. "You've probably heard about him on the news, this is Kaito, the boy they found in the lab who isn't even technically living! He's got the mentally of a child and you're terrifying him!"

Ginzo paused. "Well. That changes things. What's your name, boy?"

Kaito tried to hide behind Aoko more but, sensing that her father was trying to apologize or as close as he ever came, Aoko forced him out into the open.

K-Kaito, sir."

"And your surname?" Ginzo tired and Kaito paused, thinking.

"Aoko, what's a surname?" he asked after a moment.

Aoko sighed before smiling at Kaito. "A surname is a name that tells what family you belong to. My surname is Nakamori and so is my dad's. So people know we're related. Understand?"

Kaito thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "So is my surname Nakamori?"

"Well...it could be, I guess. I don't think it really matters that much for you, Kaito." Aoko said, shrugging and Kaito smiled cheerfully before turning back to Ginzo.

"Nakamori, sir." He told the adult and Ginzo gave his daughter a weary, unamused look.

"Right. Well, it is Christmas. Come on, son, welcome to the family. Go get yourself something to eat, you've hardly got any muscle on you. You'll need it." Ginzo said, shaking his head and walking off. The chatter of the party resumed, though it had a distinct theme now.

"If you couldn't tell, Kaito, that was my dad's way of saying sorry to you." Aoko said, taking his hand in hers and leading him towards the table where the food was set up.

"Why didn't he just say that then?" Kaito asked, balancing the plate Aoko put in his hands. She began putting food on top of it, making sure to avoid the fish. No need for them to make anymore scenes tonight.

Aoko smiled and shrugged. "Well, adults are weird, Kaito. I still don't completely understand them myself."

"So we can figure it out together?" he asked, hopefully.

She laughed lightly and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Sure, Kaito. Merry Christmas."

* * *

**Merry Christmas everyone!**


End file.
